pin down
verb
pinned down; pinning down; pins down
1
: to cause or force (someone) to make a definite statement or decision about something
Reporters tried to pin him down on the specific changes he wants to make to the tax laws.
2
: to find out (something) with certainty
Can you pin down when the change occurred?
I'm trying to pin the source of the problem down.
Examples of pin down in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
MnDOT engineer Mark Lindeberg emphasized that the department has not pinned down funding or construction dates.
—
Frederick Melo, Twin Cities, 17 Jan. 2025
Trying to pin down the root cause of these thefts has proven difficult.
—David Williams, Baltimore Sun, 16 Jan. 2025
Recommended Resilience In Los Angeles, as Palisades Fire burns, resilience begins to take hold
Public perception is more difficult to pin down.
—Jackie Valley, The Christian Science Monitor, 15 Jan. 2025
But his military aims have been difficult to pin down, and the views of his presumptive cabinet are scattershot.
—Abe Streep, The New Yorker, 27 Dec. 2024
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Frederick Melo, Twin Cities, 17 Jan. 2025
Trying to pin down the root cause of these thefts has proven difficult.
—David Williams, Baltimore Sun, 16 Jan. 2025
Recommended Resilience In Los Angeles, as Palisades Fire burns, resilience begins to take hold
Public perception is more difficult to pin down.
—Jackie Valley, The Christian Science Monitor, 15 Jan. 2025
But his military aims have been difficult to pin down, and the views of his presumptive cabinet are scattershot.
—Abe Streep, The New Yorker, 27 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for pin down
Dictionary Entries Near pin down
Cite this Entry
“Pin down.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pin%20down. Accessed 22 Jan. 2025.
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